MASTER & COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD promises to be the motion picture spectacle of the year. Set on the high seas, Crowe stars as Lucky Jack Aubrey, a captain whose ship is suddenly attacked by a much superior enemy warship. Aubrey becomes a man on a mission and sets sail in a high-stakes chase across two oceans to intercept and capture their foe. It’s a mission that can decide the fate of a nation – or destroy him and his crew.

MASTER & COMMANDER is not only an epic tale of leadership and dedication, but also a powerful story about Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, a dedicated surgeon and trusted friend, played by Paul Bettany. Also, for the first time, thanks to advances in special effects, audiences will feel what it’s really like to be in the heat of the battle and the heart of the storm.

The British-born Bettany is a recognized star overseas with well-received performances in film, on the London stage and on British television. American audiences first discovered him in A Knight’s Tale, in which he played the comical role of Chaucer opposite Heath Ledger. Bettany earned the Best Supporting Actor award from the London Film Critics for his performance in the film, and led to his being named one of Daily Variety’s “Ten to Watch” for 2001.

Classically trained at the Drama Centre in London, he made his stage debut in a West End production of An Inspector Calls under the direction of Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot). He then spent a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in productions of Richard III, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar before landing his first feature film role in Bent.

Bettany returned to the stage to appear in Love and Understanding at London’s Bush Theatre. He later reprised that role at the Longwharf Theatre in Connecticut. The play led to more British television work, including Lynda La Plante’s Killer Net and Coming Home, in which he starred with Peter O’Toole.

His appearance in the Royal Court Theatre productions of One More Wasted Year and Stranger’s House preceded his second feature film role in David Leland’s Land Girls with Catherine McCormack and Rachel Weisz. He next appeared in the film After the Rain.

Bettany portrayed Steerforth in the TNT production of David Copperfield, directed by Peter Medak, opposite Sally Field and Michael Richards. More feature film roles followed, including The Suicide Club with Jonathan Pryce and David Morrissey. He was nominated for a British Independent Film award and a London Film Critics’ award for Best Newcomer in the just-released Gangster No.1, directed by Paul McGuigan, and starring Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, and Saffron Burrows. He stars in the period mystery-thriller The Reckoning opposite Willem Dafoe, which re-teamed Bettany with director Paul McGuigan.

Boyd most recently portrayed Peregrin (Pippin) Took in director Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien book series. The first and second films in the series, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, were released to worldwide boxoffice success. His other films include An Urban Ghost Story, Julie and the Cadillacs and a film short, Soldiers Leap.

Boyd, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, began his acting career in the Scottish television series Taggart. His UK television credits include Coming Soon and Chapter and Verse. On stage, Boyd has performed in various UK productions including The Speculator, Trainspotting, An Experienced Woman Gives Advice, Therese Racquin, Britannia Rules, Kill The Old, Torture Their Young, The Chic Nerds, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, Merlin the Magnificent and The Slab Boys, and most recently, the Traverse production of The Ballad of Crazy Paola. Boyd also plays guitar, bass and sings light baritone/tenor.

JAMES D’ARCY portrays 1st Lt. Thomas Pullings. D’Arcy portrayed the title role in Nicholas Nickleby for Britain’s Channel 4. He also appeared in several BBC TV productions, including The Ice House, Silent Witness, Beck, Dalziel and Pascoe, Tom Jones and Sunburn.

D’Arcy’s film work includes Dot the I opposite Gael Garcia Bernal, which was recently featured at the Sundance Film Festival. He portrayed Sherlock Holmes in A Case of Evil, and he also appeared in the films Revelation, The Trench, Wilde and Guest House Paradiso.

He performed in several theatre productions at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, including the title roles in Heracles and Sherlock Holmes; As You Like It, Wild Honey, The Freedom of the City and Larkrise to Candleford.